NDA Government will “detect, delete and deport” illegal immigrants, Amit Shah tells Lok Sabha

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government will “detect, delete and deport” illegal immigrants from the country, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday (December 10, 2025), as the Lok Sabha witnessed a face-off during a discussion on electoral reforms, leading to an Opposition walkout.

Mr. Shah used his speech to respond to questions asked by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi during the discussion on electoral reforms, which began on Tuesday (December 9, 2025) and has largely focused on the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls announced by the Election Commission of India in June this year.

A combative Home Minister accused Mr. Gandhi of trying to spread falsehoods through his claims of “vote chori (theft)”, adding that “some families” were “generational vote chors (thieves)”. He also accused Opposition parties of objecting to the SIR because they want to keep “infiltrators” in the electoral rolls.

Shah vs Gandhi

When Mr. Shah spoke about the ECI’s clarifications on the LoP’s allegations of malpractice in the Haryana elections, Mr. Gandhi challenged him to a debate on the allegations. The Congress leader asked the Home Minister to respond to the questions he had asked on the first day of the debate about why Election Commissioners (ECs) were granted immunity from prosecution under the 2023 law on the appointment of ECIs and Chief Election Commissioners.

At this, Mr. Shah said that while he would respond to all questions raised by the LoP, nobody could dictate in which order he would speak. “I will decide the order of my topics and not him,” he said.

Mr. Gandhi responded by saying that the Home Minister was defensive and looked like a worried man. He later reiterated his claim outside the House after the walkout, insisting that Mr. Shah had not responded to any of his questions.

Inside the House, Mr. Shah replied that he would not be provoked, adding that vote chori actually happens when the people’s mandate is defied.

‘No infiltrators in the rolls’

Sparks flew as the Home Minister alleged that the intention of the Opposition was to keep the names of foreign infiltrators in the electoral rolls.

After the Opposition walked out, Mr. Shah responded, saying: “Even if they walk out 200 times, we will not allow even a single infiltrator.” The NDA Government’s motto is to “detect, delete and deport” using constitutional provisions, he said, declaring those three words in English during a speech which was otherwise in Hindi.

“Their [Opposition] policy on the other hand is to normalise infiltrators and then formalise them into voter lists,” he said.

‘Oppn blames ECI when they lose’

The Home Minister claimed that the Opposition had spread several untruths about the SIR over the last four and a half months. The ECI has a constitutional mandate to prepare clean electoral rolls under Article 326 of the Constitution, he said.

“The first SIR was carried out in 1952 when Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister. From 1952 to 2004, no party opposed SIR as it is the process to prepare a transparent electoral roll,” he said.

The Opposition is fine with electoral rolls and the ECI when they win elections and only have problems with them when they lose, Mr. Shah said. Giving a list of elections lost by the BJP since 2014, he said, “We have lost more elections than we have won. We have never blamed the ECI. Since 2014, we have won 44 elections and the opposition has won 30. If the voter list is wrong, then why did you take oath?”

‘Purifying electoral rolls’

Mr. Shah pointed out that, when the LoP is saying that voter lists are not correct and they should be corrected, the SIR is aimed at exactly that.

“Can any country remain safe if who will be the Prime Minister and who will be the Chief Minister is decided by infiltrators? Should one voter have voted at more than one place? Can dead people have their names in voter lists? This is just purifying the electoral rolls. I agree that some political parties would be affected by this,” he said. “We have to decide whether while electing a government, a foreigner has the right to vote or not,” he added.

‘33% better than nothing’

On the issue of the Chief Justice of India not being included in the panel for the selection of the CEC and ECIs, as suggested by the Supreme Court, Mr. Shah pointed out that for 73 years, there was no law for the appointment of ECs, and the Prime Minister would do it himself.

The law was made in 2023 when the Supreme Court said that the selection process of the ECs should be more transparent, he said. Responding to the LoP’s complaint that the Opposition had only 33% share as against the government in the panel, Mr. Shah said: “At least they have that much share; in their time, we [the then-Opposition] had none.”

According to the 2023 law, the selection panel for the CEC and ECs comprises the Prime Minister, a Union Minister selected by the PM, and the Leader of Opposition.

CCTV footage for 45 days only

Regarding the clause on deleting CCTV footage of polling booths after 45 days, Mr. Shah noted that under the Representation of People Act, 1950, an election can be challenged only within 45 days. “At that time, there was no CCTV footage. Now, the ECI has aligned it with RPA Act,” he said. If election petitions can only be filed within 45 days, then how can CCTV footage help after that, he questioned.

On the 2023 law giving immunity to the CEC and ECs from prosecution, the Home Minister said that “the RPA Act of 1950 itself gives immunity. We have just included it in the 2023 law.”

He also responded to questions raised by the Trinamool Congress on why infiltrators are allowed to enter the country by the BSF and the Centre. Only 563 km of the border is left to be fenced, and that entire stretch is in West Bengal, Mr. Shah said. “In all other states it has been completed,” he pointed out.